Vegan Cashew “Cheese” Spread

As a way to ring in 2016, I asked my followers on Social Media to pick one food item for me to take out of my diet for the month of January. I received so many great options like cheese, sugar, meat, and Richard (literally, two different people wrote Richard . . . not really sure what to do with that information, but I’ll roll with it). I put all of their suggestions into a drawing for one lucky winner (or loser, depending how you look at it): DAIRY!

I knew this was going to be a tough cookie, because, well, dairy encapsulates so many of my favorites: cheese, chocolate, cheese, ice cream, cheese, and did I mention cheese? This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I really like cheese. Nay, I really love cheese. There was a moment in my life when I had to be physically removed from my station on a sandwich making team, because being in charge of the cheese meant that I ate every other piece that slice that came my way. Here you go sandwich, one for you, one for me, one for you, one for me . . . I’m not even exaggerating, I have witnesses. All of that to say, I was a little bit nervy about giving up dairy (aka cheese) for an entire month. I said I was going to do it, though, so by golly I’m going to do it!

I’ve heard about this alleged “Cashew Cheese” from some of my vegan friends, and I’ve seen it listed as ingredients at some of my favorite restaurants, so I figured I’d try to look through a few recipes to see if I could come up with my own version of this Cheese-postor (that’s cheese-impostor, in case it doesn’t come across so soundly in written form). So, here’s what I did, and you can too!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup cashews (soaked for at least one hour & drained)

1/4 cup filtered water

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

3 Garlic Cloves

Himalayan Sea Salt

Cracked Pepper

Here’s what you do:

Throw everything in a blender

Blend (supes complicated, right?)

Just in case you want my two cents, here you go: it.is.exquisite! Seriously, I loved every single tasty bite I got, and the family and friends who got to it before I licked the bowl also report thoroughly enjoying this scrumptious treat. However, and this is a big however, I’m not sure why someone would call this “cheese” exactly. Please don’t misunderstand, it is SUPER DELICIOUS, just not in a cheesy kinda way. I can see how it might be used in lieu of a cheese spread or dip, but my feta favoring palette can’t seem to get on board with calling this cheese just yet.

Am I being too harsh? Are my cheese standards just a little too high? You tell me! Comment below with your thoughts on this Vegan “Cheese” Spread. Are there other recipes or variations I should try?